The Concept of Active Longevity in Russia’s Policy on Aging

This is a self-archived version of an original article. This version may differ from the original in pagination and typographic details. Author(s): Title: Year: Version: Copyright: Rights: Rights url: Please cite the original version: CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ The Concept of Active Longevity in Russia’s Policy on Aging © 2023 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC Published version Martynova, Liliya Martynova, L. (2023). The Concept of Active Longevity in Russia’s Policy on Aging. Journal of Aging and Social Policy, Early online. https://doi.org/10.1080/08959420.2023.2265768 2023 Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=wasp20 Journal of Aging & Social Policy ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wasp20 The Concept of Active Longevity in Russia’s Policy on Aging Liliya Martynova To cite this article: Liliya Martynova (08 Nov 2023): The Concept of Active Longevity in Russia’s Policy on Aging, Journal of Aging & Social Policy, DOI: 10.1080/08959420.2023.2265768 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/08959420.2023.2265768 © 2023 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Published online: 08 Nov 2023. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 84 View related articles View Crossmark data The Concept of Active Longevity in Russia’s Policy on Aging Liliya Martynova MSc Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland ABSTRACT Since the 1960s, the goal of active longevity has been mentioned repeatedly in Russian policy documents on aging and agingrelated research. Analyzing current policy documents revealed divergences in the ways the term was interpreted, which in turn allowed for aging policy to develop in more than one direction. One policy development path considers active longevity to be more or less synonymous with the active aging concept. It focuses on older people’s potential, and measures policy progress according to the Active Longevity Index (ALI). Another takes a more holistic approach, seeing active longevity as a policy goal in itself, alongside healthy aging, employment, social participation, and older people’s contribution to society in ways that suit them. The latter approach accords with previous policy implementations in Russia and with extensive research data collected from various Russian regions since the 1940s. Preliminary observations on active longevity policy implementations show progress in health-care development and multiple opportunities for older people` social participation. However, data on older people’s employment and life expectancy challenge the effectiveness of policy and cast doubt on the reliability of the ALI. A more flexible approach and the application of accumulated data and knowledge may assist in achieving active longevity policy goals. ARTICLE HISTORY Received 8 September 2022 Accepted 19 August 2023 KEYWORDS Active aging; active longevity; older people; policy document analysis; Russia Introduction This paper presents findings regarding the interpretations of active longevity in current Russian policy documents that focus on older people. The government faces the challenge of implementing social policies across a wide range of regional conditions and cultural contexts, simultaneously with an increase in the overall average age of the Russian population. Between 2002 and 2021, the number of people aged 65 years or older increased from 18.81 million to 23.16 million, or 13% to 15.8% of the total population (Federal State Statistics Service (FSSS), 2021), and this proportion is predicted to continue increasing. In addition to the socioeconomic and geographic differences CONTACT Liliya Martynova [email protected] Yhteiskuntatieteiden ja filosofian laitos, Jyväskylän yliopisto,Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of Jyväskylä, Centre of Excellence in Research on Ageing and Care, Finland This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article. JOURNAL OF AGING & SOCIAL POLICY https://doi.org/10.1080/08959420.2023.2265768 © 2023 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. between regions, policymakers must consider differences in the cultural and social norms of various ethnic groups in Russia (FSSS, 2012). The Russian government has released various policy documents to address demographic changes and aging, and recent policy documents aimed at improving the well-being of older people have used the term active longevity (Government of Russia, 2016a, 2016b, 2017a, 2017b, 2018/2021; Government of Russia, 2020, 2021a, 2021b) without directly defining it, referring to it as a policy goal. In 2020, a multidisciplinary interdepartmental working group of experts at the High School of Economics (HSE) published a scientific and methodological report entitled Concept for an Active Longevity Policy (HSE, 2020), which outlined a model policy and attempted to define the term. The suggested definitions and policy are rooted in the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) concept of active aging (2002) and the European measures introduced in 2012 as part of the European Year for Active Aging and Solidarity Between Generations. The term active longevity and its derivatives, such as longevous active life, are not new to Russian policy documents and research on aging. In Russianlanguage sources, active longevity has often been discussed in connection with employability, active and healthy lifestyles, and social participation (e.g., Chebotarev, 1979; Frenkel, 1949; Stankov, 1960). It has also been the main topic and used in the titles of various works by researchers (e.g., Mikulin, 1977; Nikitin, 1964), and institutions – e.g., Intellectual Work and Active Longevity: The 1976 Yearbook (Chebotarev, 1976). Since the 1960s, longevity has increasingly become a subject of policy documents, and since the 1980s, the term active longevity has been regularly used in policies. Using the method of policy document analysis, this paper focuses on several such documents to analyze how they use or address active longevity as a social policy concept. Longevity as a discourse in Russian social policy documents At the policy level, prolonging the life expectancy of citizens (and the term active longevity) gained increasing attention in the 1960s. The Institute of Gerontology, the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences, founded in 1958, studied topics related to aging, and published Gerontology and Geriatrics Yearbooks that included a significant number of articles on aging (and active longevity). From 1959 onward, the Gerontology Department of the Moscow Society of Naturalists organized many conferences on aging and longevity that focused on the mechanisms of aging and ways to extend life. Moreover, Decree 63 on the development of biology in the USSR required the medical sciences to provide “theoretical bases and practical measures to increase the longevity of people and their working capacities” (Council of Ministers of the USSR, 1963). This decree would later manifest in a Soviet health policy 2L. MARTYNOVA stipulating that “scientific research in the field of medicine is devoted to caring for people’s health and ensuring they have a long, active life” (Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, 1969). Preventive care has become an integral part of this active longevity policy. What began in the 1920s and 1930s as medical screening in local dispensaries gradually expanded into more dynamic regular monitoring of the health and working conditions of Soviet citizens (Belostocky et al., 2013). This necessarily involved increased state expenditure on health and social services for all sectors of the population, which, in turn, led to an explosion in the number of available medical specialists, health resorts, and health facilities (Stankov, 1960). Measures were taken to provide better access to information about hygiene and medicines to “prevent diseases, increase working capacities, and reach longevity” in the overall population at large (Ministry of Health of the USSR, 1964). By the 1970s, the basics of this system – known as “mass dispensarization” (i.e., regular health screenings and the early detection and treatment of diseases) – had been established. At the same time, medical and social services began to be widely discussed alongside issues of hygiene, proper nutrition, and a healthy, active lifestyle to promote longer, healthier, and more active lives (Frenkel, 1949; Golicinskaya, 1975; Lukianov, 1958; Mikulin, 1977; Nikitin, 1964). Later, the Soviet Union’s Constitution emphasized that the right to health care would be guaranteed by, among other things, “scientific research aimed at preventing and reducing morbidity and ensuring the longterm active life of citizens” (Supreme Soviet of the USSR, 1977, Article 42). Employment and active longevity, and their ramifications for the collective good of society, became an essential topic for gerontologists and social policy researchers (Aleksandrova, 1974, Chebotarev, 1976; Frenkel, 1949). Meaningful work was discussed as both a prerequisite for good health and longevity (Stankov, 1960) and a source of satisfaction and joy (Nikitin, 1964). Frenkel adopted a comprehensive approach to active longevity, seeing it as a “collective interest” (Frenkel, 1949, p. 14) and pointing out that work routines could be adjusted to allow older people to share their valuable expertise while meeting their individual needs to contribute. Considerable research has also been conducted on working longevity within different occupations, genders, age groups, and localities (Aleksandrova, 1974; Chebotarev, 1976; Dyskin & Reshetyuk, 1988; Nikitin, 1964). The social component of the active longevity discourse has covered the themes of social inclusion, positive relationships, and quality leisure time (Golicinskaya, 1975; Lukianov, 1958; Mikulin, 1977; Nikitin, 1964), with researchers perceiving high self-esteem, continuing activity, and an optimistic attitude as prerequisites for these benefits (Stankov, 1960). Since the 1950s and 1960s, a network of cultural centers across many localities and universities has been established to improve the quality of leisure time and promote political and scientific knowledge (e.g., Lipatov & Valkovsky, 2015; Pinaeva, 2014). JOURNAL OF AGING & SOCIAL POLICY 3 Active longevity manifested in the Soviet program Prolongation of lifespan (Chebotarev, 1979). One part of the program was specifically focused on developing new approaches to longevity, maintaining work skills and remaining active. This included special “social hygienic” activities aimed at “encouraging an active longevity” (ibid, p. 9). From the 1980s, this focus on active longevity and maintaining an active lifestyle went a step further. The dispensarization main goal became the “formation, preservation, and strengthening of the population’s health, the prevention of the development of diseases, the reduction of morbidity, and an increase in active and creative longevity” (USSR Ministry of Health, 1986). Soviet citizens were also entitled to receive dispensarization at home if they had difficulty traveling to medical facilities. In 1987, regulations were passed to encourage active retirement, which entitled pensioners to medical, cultural, and employment services provided by their local social services (USSR State Committee for Labor and Social Issues, 1987). By the end of the 1980s, health and social services aimed to maintain and promote health, “improve work performance, and encourage active longevity” (USSR Ministry of Health, 1988). Due to a political and socio-economic crisis in the 1990s, aging policy and aging-related research stagnated for almost a decade, with life expectancies and living standards decreasing. Then, the 1997–1998 Older Generation Federal Project introduced health care, social activities, and employment measures and requested the development of a concept of healthy aging (Government of Russia, 1997). This, and the following 2002–2004 program, achieved only modest results due to issues concerning budgeting, control, and gaps in theoretical and regulatory frameworks (Smirnov, 2016). Meanwhile, the goal of improving public health was again connected to people having an “active longevous life” (Government of Russia, 2000) and a “healthy active life” (Government of Russia, 2001), based on the ideas of the 1940s–1980s. Life expectancy increased, but relatively slowly, from 67.6 years in 2007 to 70.9 years in 2014, with gender disproportions at older ages remaining significant; older people still faced limited job opportunities, unsatisfactory working conditions, and reduced opportunities for social participation (Government of Russia, 2016a). Methods Policy document analysis In this study, policy document analysis was used to investigate how the current policy documents address the concept of active longevity. As Sayer (2010) pointed out, concepts predefine the actions and rules underpinning conceptual systems, so considering policy documents (which outline such actions and rules) allows concepts and ideas to be investigated in the context of the actors involved and the social phenomena targeted by the policies (Karppinen & Hallvard, 2012) 4L. MARTYNOVA Based on theoretical recommendations (Dalglish et al., 2021; Kayesa & Shung-King, 2021) and practical examples (Kayesa & Shung-King, 2021; Koduah et al., 2015; Mandville-Anstey et al., 2022), this research followed the steps for policy document analysis. In the first step, the selection criteria were determined for the documents to be analyzed. In the second step, short descriptions of the documents were developed, and they were labeled. In the third step (data extraction), thematic analysis was used to identify documents that mentioned the active longevity concept, offered interpretations of the term, and contained data clusters for further analysis. Further analysis was conducted to consider temporal and international trends in the chosen documents and to identify the main themes. Herein, the author presents the results that answered the research question, backed up with document quotations, discusses preliminary policy results, describes the study’s limitations, and provides a conclusion. Data selection In the first step, only documents relating to policy actions that issued for the period up to January 2022 and directly mentioned the term “active longevity” were selected. Using this term, a search was then conducted of the Official Internet Portal for Legal Information http://pravo.gov.ru/ and the official webpage of the Russian Government http://government.ru/, which resulted in 27 different levels of documents, such as decrees, orders, resolutions, and messages. After these documents were listed in a table, those that did not focus on policies for older people were excluded. This left the following documents: the Action Strategy for the Benefit of Senior Citizens in the Russian Federation up to 2025 (A1) and two Action Plans for the periods of 2016–2020 and 2021–2025; HSE`s Concept for an Active Longevity Policy (R); the Demography National Project (D-NP) and its part the Older Generation Federal Project (OG-FP); the Concept of Demographic Policy until 2025 (B1) and related Action Plan for the period of 2016–2020; the National Strategy for Women 2017–2022 (B2); the Demographic Policy of the Far East for the Period up to 2025 (B3); Strategy for the development of physical culture and sports until 2030 (Government of Russia, 2020) (B4). Data analysis As a first step in analyzing the selected documents, a list of questions was formulated to support the meaning-making process (Dalglish et al., 2021) as follows: 1) What are the main objectives of the documents?, 2) What is the content of the documents?, and 3) Do the documents explicitly refer to each other? Inductive analysis was used to determine the main themes (Kayesa & Shung-King, 2021; Mandville-Anstey et al., 2022), clarify the concept of active JOURNAL OF AGING & SOCIAL POLICY 5 longevity, and identify the theoretical conditions for achieving it. To facilitate this, further questions were formulated to guide the data extraction process: 1) How is the term active longevity explained?, 2) How is the concept of active longevity integrated with policy measures?, 3) Which policy actions related to active longevity are considered important in Russia?, 4) How do the documents describe older people’s roles?, and 5) Do the documents complement or contradict each other? The documents in the sample were published in different years, which allowed the evolution of the active longevity concept to be traced over time (Dalglish et al., 2021). Another factor that influences the formation of policy documents is the international context, which provides evidence of the actions of specific actors (Koduah et al., 2015). Thus, the presentation of the analyzed documents in chronological order (Figure 1) was accommodated by the international documents which were referred to. The relevant text extracts are presented in tables to facilitate the discussion of the results in this paper. Findings Active longevity is connected with healthy aging, employment, and social participation The analysis revealed that although all the documents mentioned “active longevity,” only one specifically defined it. All of the analyzed documents were concerned with facilitating active longevity and extending it for as long as possible via policy measures to promote healthy living and aging, continued employability, and different forms of social participation (see Tables 1 and 2). Although “active longevity” also appeared in the 2021–2025 Action Plan in Document B1, it did not appear in the main text. As in previous demographic policy documents, its stated aim was to “preserve and prolong the health and working life of older people and develop gerontological care” (Government of Russia, 2007, p. 9). The only document that treated active longevity as a separate concept and offered a specific definition was Document R. Active longevity was described as a “state of social, economic, physical, and psychological well-being which allows senior citizens to meet their own needs and be included in various spheres of society – this state can be achieved with the active participation of older people” (HSE, 2020, p. 7). The concept thus hinged on “actively participating,” but the degree of activity could vary greatly depending on the physical and mental health and cultural backgrounds of the individual older people. Hence, this was clearly an attempt to define active longevity as an umbrella term for aging policy. Whereas previously it was listed alongside the other factors, now it was described by precisely those factors – healthy living, continued employability, and participation in various social activities. 6L. MARTYNOVA Different approaches to aging policy and different development paths The analysis revealed different trends in policies concerning old age, aging, and active longevity. Document A1, for example, adopted a structure- and action-oriented policy similar to the Vienna International Plan of Action on Aging (United Nations (UN), 1982). Both recognized the importance of data collection, which also underpinned Soviet policy in the 1960s. To determine the members of the population on which the policy focused, Document A1 considered “specifics of life expectancy, health status, and the pension system” (Government of Russia, 2016a, p. 2) and accepted the conventional age groupings of 60–64, 65–80, and 80+ years. The point being made was that age alone cannot determine whether an older person remains active, and that policy Analyzed documents that refer to active longevity Year Other documents mentioned Russian Government: The Concept of Demographic policy until 2025 (B1) 2007 2002 UN: The Madrid Plan of Action on Ageing; WHO: Active Ageing: A Policy Framework. 2012 Council of the European Union Guiding Principles for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations; UN/EC: Active Ageing Index Russian Government: Strategy of Actions for the Benefit of Senior Citizens in the Russian Federation up to 2025 (A1), Action Plan 2016-2020 (A1-AP 2016) 2016 2015 WHO: World Report on Health and Ageing Russian Government: National Strategy for Women 2017-2022 (B2) The Demographic Policy of the Far East for the Period up to 2025 (B3) 2017 Russian Government: the Demography National project (D-NP) including its part Older Generation Federal project (OG-FP) 2018 Russia, HSE: the Concept of Active Longevity policy: scientificmethodological report (R) Strategy for the development of physical culture and sports until 2030 (B4) 2020 2019 Russia, Federal State Statistics Service: Active Longevity Index in Russia Russian Government: Action plan of 2021-2025 of the Concept of Demographic policy until 2025 (B1- AP 2021) Action Plans 2021-2025 from the Action Strategy in the Interests of Older Citizens in the Russian Federation until 2025:(A1-AP 2021) 2021 WHO and UN: Decade of Healthy Ageing 2021–2030: Second Action Plan of the WHO Global Strategy on Ageing and Health Figure 1. Policy documents chosen and chronological trends. JOURNAL OF AGING & SOCIAL POLICY 7 Discussion The documents analyzed in this article underpin current Russian social policy. As the proportion of older people in the population increases, so do their needs and wishes. The findings suggest that active longevity is connected to health-care development, social participation, and employment. These foci dominated the discussion and policy measures related to active longevity from 1940 to the 1980s. The analysis revealed differences in the conceptions of aging and “active longevity.” Document R (HSE, 2020) defined active longevity as an umbrella concept, whereas other analyzed documents referred to it as one among other policy goals. Defining active longevity as a concept (HSE, 2020) raises concerns about using the term differently from how it was used previously in Russian policy documents and research. Moreover, the target audiences for the HSE report and other policy documents also differ. The former document targeted everyone over the age of 55 (HSE, 2020), Document A1 divided the target audience into three different age groups over the age of 60 (Government of Russia, 2016a), and other policy documents used much vaguer terms, such as “older people” or those “above retirement age.” The latter term is particularly challenging due to ongoing pension reforms and biannual retirement age changes planned until 2028. Thus, the basic terms of discussion have still to be agreed upon. An analysis of the active aging model and its implementation in Europe revealed challenges regarding cultural and regional diversity that affect the degree to which older people actively participate (Lakomý, 2021). Timonen (2016) questioned whether it is realistic to expect an active aging policy to be applied equally to a heterogeneous older population in which some people are more disadvantaged than others. Document R emphasized older people’s potential to contribute to society and recommended measuring this with the ALI. However, the index embodies a neoliberal logic that older people’s potential can and should be measured. Neoliberal rationality justifies explaining older people’s positive image and active longevity as something that must be achieved by encouraging them to be active and increasing their potential (Rudman, 2015). The neoliberal discourse challenges the heterogeneity of older people’s health conditions, abilities, values, and interests. Preliminary observations of the practical implementation of policy measures revealed some progress in health care for and the social participation of older people, which are essential for the success of an active longevity policy. Hence, data on variations in life expectancies, official employment rates, and the involvement of private medical institutions in the health-care system are required to support further monitoring of outcomes and policy adjustments. Additionally, the situation regarding older people’s employment and diverse regional situations highlights the drawbacks of ALI calculations at the country level and hinders further comparisons with other countries. Recognizing the 14 L. MARTYNOVA heterogeneity of older people and diverse regional situations requires a more flexible approach, gender-oriented policy measures, more research on policy effects, and measures based on the results. Limitations Since aging and longevity have long been topics of debate in Russian-language research and policy documents, historical, regional, and cultural differences have affected how concepts are interpreted and policies implemented. Explanations of aging-related social issues may differ according to the policymaker or researcher doing the interpreting, but also between social groups in the same locality: as Sayer (2010, p. 41) stated, “meaning is context-dependent.” Nevertheless, the present article provides excerpts from Russian-language documents translated into English, which could provide alternative interpretations. The current analysis of aging policies would have benefited from an examination of more documents than it was possible to include (e.g., more recent documents and action plans or documents showing how active longevity policy is being implemented regionally). Conclusion Policy documents studied in this research referred to active longevity as one of a series of policy goals (the others being healthy living, continued employability, and other forms of social engagement and participation), following policy and research traditions that began in the 1960s. The exception is the Concept for an Active Longevity Policy (HSE, 2020) which interpreted active longevity as an umbrella concept. This interpretation of active longevity has less in common with the use of the term in the other analyzed policy documents and more in common with active aging models used elsewhere in the world (Council of the European Union, 2012; WHO, 2002). It also follows the rather worrying neoliberal logic that prioritizes the continued activity and employability of older people and ways to measure their potential for these activities. This approach does not adequately consider the increasingly heterogeneous nature of older people and their varying needs. The inclusion of nongovernmental providers of social services may become a warning sign of care marketization aligned with the neoliberal logic; however, more research and monitoring are required to draw any conclusions. Having an already rich gerontological and social policy research heritage, Russian policymakers have had various opportunities to define aging policy. Further using and improving research across the country may help address the regional specifics that affect the social policy framework surrounding aging in Russia. Analyzing a greater diversity of older people across the different regions in Russia would facilitate the implementation of the active longevity concept across a wider range of localities and cultures. JOURNAL OF AGING & SOCIAL POLICY 15 Key points ●Analyzing policy documents revealed the ongoing complexity of Russian government approaches to population aging. ●The analysis revealed different interpretations of active longevity and, thus, different ways in which policy on aging may be further developed. ●Active longevity is a component of a greater vision that includes healthy aging, employment, social inclusion, and social participation. Acknowledgments The author thanks the supervisors Outi Jolanki and Teppo Kröger, reviewers for valuable comments, the Centre of Excellence in Research on Ageing and Care and the Academy of Finland for their support. Disclosure statement No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author. Funding This work was supported by the Centre of Excellence in Research on Ageing and Care (decision number 352735). ORCID Liliya Martynova MSc http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6903-9021 References Aleksandrova, M. D. (1974). Проблемы социальной и психологической геронтологии [Problems of social and psychological gerontology]. Издательство Ленинградского университета. Belostotsky, A. V., Vinokurov, V. G., Allenov, A. M., Dyachkova, A. S., & Utochkina, I. M. (2013). Совершенствование диспансерного метода как развитие профилактического направления российского здравоохранения [Improvement in dispensary method as development of preventive direction of the Russian healthcare]. 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